Additional essential and frontline jobs within the Hong Kong government will be replaced with technology as part of a workforce restructuring effort to meet a target of cutting 2,000 posts by the end of next year, Hong Kong's chief executive told the Post.
However, recruitment efforts targeting university graduates will continue to be intensified, said Chief Executive Ingrid Yong Ho Poi-yan, highlighting the need to address talent shortages in certain ranks of government officials.
As of the end of last year, the number of police personnel, including fixed-term and full-time officers, was 192,315. Authorities aim to limit the number of civil servants to 194,000 by the end of March 2025, a reduction of 2,000 compared to the same period in 2021.
To achieve that objective while providing more public services, Yen said the department is taking advantage of rapid advances in technology to review its workforce needs and operating procedures.
“In the future, more and more menial frontline jobs will be carried out by technology. [Some are] “It's just not cost-effective to do it by hand anymore. With technology, there are fewer errors and more accuracy,” she said.
“And it also makes us more productive because we can work around the clock.”
Citing the example of workers in administrative offices across various departments, she said the increased adoption of technology could also be part of the reason why certain departments, such as the public broadcaster, have more vacancies.
As of November last year, RTHK had 175 unfilled positions, equivalent to 23.8% of all positions, the highest proportion of any department.
“There's been a lot of technological developments that help with editing and proofreading, and they're taking advantage of that,” she said.
Overall, the vacancy rate across government agencies and departments stands at 10.3 percent, with 19,744 posts lying vacant.
Following Beijing's imposition of a national security law in June 2020, civil servants suffered mass resignations after the regime required workers to take an oath of loyalty.
The following year, officials reported that 129 colleagues had failed to do so, most of whom resigned or faced dismissal.
A total of 3,863 civil servants have resigned from their posts in the 2022-23 financial year, including 45 administrative officers and 230 executive officers.The administrative officer position is seen as an ideal post for young elites aspiring to rise to the government leadership.
According to job advertisements last year, the starting salary for the former is HK$60,065 (US$7,700) and for the latter it is HK$34,060.
Yang said all sectors of Hong Kong's economy are facing talent shortages and civil servants will “inevitably be affected”.
But joining government remains an “attractive” option for young jobseekers, she argued, adding that this year's across-the-board 3% pay rise may have “disappointed” some civil servants.
Yen said last year's recruitment drive saw a one-third increase in applicants for those jobs, and promised that authorities would step up efforts to attract students, especially those just out of school.
Civil Service Secretary Ingrid Yeung said government work remained an “attractive” option for young jobseekers, but this year's three percent pay rise may have “disappointed” some civil servants. Photo: Nathan Tsai
Over the past two years, authorities have been inspecting local and mainland Chinese universities, including in cities such as Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing, to seek out Hong Kong students interested in taking up positions.
Yang noted that “several” of the recent officials had previously received their higher education in mainland China, while the other two were born in mainland China before studying in Hong Kong and later became permanent residents.
The minister also said there were no plans to change a provision of the Basic Law that allows the Hong Kong government to employ mainland Chinese citizens as civil servants.
“Civil servants need to be familiar with the situation in Hong Kong and the demands of the Hong Kong community,” she said. “I think Hong Kong permanent residents are more suitable.” [for the roles]” she said
“Mainland Chinese who have settled in Hong Kong will be eligible to apply as soon as they become permanent residents.”
